The thing that separates scientology from most other religions, in my opinion, is that they try to keep the core of their theology secret. Believing that a space tyrant names Xenu created a bunch of troublesome spirits with nuclear bombs might not seem much more far-fetched than believing that the earth was created instantaneously by god 10,000 years ago, but any Christian who believes in young-earth creationism will usually be more than happy to tell you about it – they really believe it, and want to convert you to their religion by sharing their beliefs with you. Scientologists, on the other hand, actually don’t want most people to know what their core beliefs are until you’re already very heavily involved in their church. It’s really bizarre. Ask any Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. what the core of their religious beliefs is and they’ll tell you immediately. “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet.” “Jesus is the son of God who came to earth to die for our sins.” If they’re zealous, they’ll probably go into more detail, on and on, for as long as you’re willing to listen.
With scientologists, if the person isn’t very high-level they aren’t likely to even know what the central premise of their religion is – and if they do know, they certainly aren’t going to tell you about it! Scientology has even gone so far as suing people for posting their ‘religious documents’ online for people to see. Can you imagine a Christian suing someone for putting the Bible online, or a Hindu suing someone for quoting the Bhagavad-Gita?
With scientologists, if the person isn’t very high-level they aren’t likely to even know what the central premise of their religion is – and if they do know, they certainly aren’t going to tell you about it! Scientology has even gone so far as suing people for posting their ‘religious documents’ online for people to see. Can you imagine a Christian suing someone for putting the Bible online, or a Hindu suing someone for quoting the Bhagavad-Gita?